Lost and Found
by Billini
Summary: After being dismissed from the Order, former Knight Captain Cullen meets a familiar mage again... and a new journey begins...
1. Chapter 1

"From now on, you will be denied the honor to call yourself a templar and fight for our worthy cause", the new Knight Commander of the Gallows told him, watching him coolly out of dark eyes. "Your dishonorable discharge is a great courtesy by the Divine. You have failed in protecting Kirkwall, you haven't seen the corruption of Knight Commander Stannard, and worse, you have allowed the Champion and her companions of apostates and apostate supporter to flee! Only the years before in which you at least _tried _to fullfill a templars duties, as well as your experiences back in the Fereldan circle, saved your life!"

The words could not haven been crueler or the judgment harder, but still Cullen felt nothing but a strange hollowness inside of him. Looking back at the last years, this day somehow seemed to have been inevitable. No matter what he had done, no matter how hard he had tried, no matter where he had gone, corruption and betrayal to his naive beliefs had followed him. Knight Commander Duvais was right: He HAD failed.

It was time to face the truth: He was probably the most incompetent templar in the whole world.

Taking his small bag, he handed Duvais his Knight Captain insignia, nodded one last time and turned to leave. There were no other words being addressed to him, neither by the Knight Commander nor the tranquil servant standing outside and accompagnying him through the Gallows to the exit.

When he followed the stairs downstairs to the main square on which recruits, senior templars and new arrived ones were just training, some of them were pausing and looking up to him, others started to murmur quietly.

He sighed and fought the impulse to lower his gaze. Instead, he returned their looks, eventually meeting Kerans blue eyes and Moiras regretful gaze. There was anger in the young templars eyes, but Cullen slightly shook his head and saw how Moira moved closer to Keran and put her hand on his arm. Looking at him again, the two simultaneously stood at attention, giving him a last sign of respect which immediately earned them an annoyed glance by their new superior.

They shouldn't have behaved like this, not in front of all those new arrived templars who thought Kirkwall had fallen to magic due to the incompetency of the present templars, not to mention the frenzy of the former Knight Commander.

But nothing of all this mattered anymore. When the gates of the Gallows closed behind Cullen, he was for the first time in nearly 30 years on his own again... and felt completely lost.

* * *

Robin pulled her capes' hood deeper into her face while she was wandering through the streets of Kirkwall. Below the material and pressed to her neck, she felt Feather who was completely motionless. The little owl obviously felt as uncomfortable as she did.

Well, who could blame her? The city was full of templars who were more than a bit vigilant after what had happened with the chantry. And although her status made sure that she did not have to fear them, she would have preferred to be back in Vigils Keep and take care of her newest offshot, a rare herb she had imported from Seheron and somehow managed to cultivate in Ferelden. A plant able to make the fields of Amaranthine vertile again which were still hard to cuture after the contamination through the Darkspawn...

But she shouldn't allow her mind to wander so far. The reason why she had come to this city wasn't to think about plants, but to look for her Second in Command who had been last seen here in Kirkwall. Rumor had it that he had been fighting at the Champions side against the crazy Knight Commander.

She wondered what had come into his mind to behave in such a crazy way. Normally Nathaniel was stoic and calm and did never ever react irrationally...contrary to herself. It felt strange that suddenly SHE had to behave responsible and take over all the responsibilities resulting from being Arlessa of Ameranthine and Warden Commander of Ferelden.

She neither liked the one, nor the other task. Fighting during the Blight against the Darkspawn had been a necessity to survive, but she hated all the politics and dealing with Anora, the bitch queen. Normally Nathaniel and Alistair were taking care of these kind of duties, but both weren't present at the moment: Alistair was on a journey to Weißhaupt and Nate... well, obviously he was on his honeymoon, involving fighting against insane Knight Commanders and than disappearing into knowwhere. Sometimes she simply forgot that he was only a man... and her cousin had this whole doe-eyed, sinuous body, beautiful but sad face package...

Feather made a small noise against her ear, and than she heard it as well: The sound of heavy boots which were soon replaced by the presence of three templars at the end of the street. They were chasing a young woman in mage robes who was trying to escape into a side street. When one of them grabbed her, she screamed and tried to free herself. Her attempts failed because the templar striked out and let his fist crash against the side of her face. She immediately crumbled to the ground, blood seeking from her temple.

"That was harsh!" one of his fellows said, but he only shrugged.

"They better learn sooner than later that the times in which they have been let by a crowd of incomptetent templars is over!"

Robin did not listen to his next words anymore . She also did not try to stay inconspicious anymore under her cloak.

Instead, she cast a spell.

For the templars the swarm of insects which was suddenly lunging at them seemed to come out of nowwhere. From one moment to another they were surrounded by them, and the little beasts found their ways through slits under their armor. Soon the men were cursing, ripping the helmets from their heads and scratching themselves bloody.

Robin used their inattention to cast a second spell, and this time the men were falling asleep from one moment to another and crumbling next to the poor girl to the ground.

"That won't help", a male voice suddenly said behind her, sounding oddly familiar. "She will be caught sooner or later and than be made responsible for what YOU have just done!"

Without looking at the stranger who had disappeared silently, she crouched next to the girl and answered: "I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because she is dead."

That was the moment when the first templar started to free himself from his magical sleep... and she to change her form to show them how to treat a mage...


	2. Chapter 2

_It figures_, Cullen thought. _I have left the Gallows half an hour ago and directly stumble into the next apostate mage..._ Who was just about to transfor into... something.

He had never experienced magic like this before. Rumor had it that the Witch of the Wilds was able to change her shape, as well as the companion of the Hero of Ferelden. But during all those years he had never been able to witness this kind of magic by himself.

And actually he did not want to start with it now.

Grabbing the mage's arm, he interrupted her spell and the magic light around her disappeared again. Hissing, she whirled around to him and her hood was gliding from her head.

Taken aback, he stared into the big brown eyes of a woman he hadn't seen in years. A woman who sometimes still haunted his dreams, no matter how awkward their last meetings had been.

Robin Amell had always been different. A small, slender loner in the circle who had looked so lost to Cullen that he hadn't been able to stop watching over her. She had intrigued him, with her big eyes and odd behavior. Somehow she had seemed familiar, considering his own awkwardness...

_He had seen how she had left the apprentice quarter to go to the storeroom which was supervised by Senior Enchanter Leorah. The right thing would have been to immediately report her behavior to his superiors, but he knew all to well that he wasn't acting rationally when it came to Robin Amell._

_She always seemed to be a bit lonely. Most other apprentices stayed away from her, mainly because she wasn't acting as cheeringly as them. But Cullen was sure that deep within she was looking for a friend..._

_Hestitating, he eventually followed her inside the storeroom. Only a few lanterns were aflame and the air smelled moldily. Around the corner he could hear Robin's voice, speaking to... someone?_

_He froze. Had she left her room to meet another apprentice? What if he would witness a making out with another mage?_

_Gulping, he thought what he should do... and heard her say: "Why don't you join us, Cullen?"_

_His heart stopped and started hammering wildly in his throat. She wasn't indicating that he... that she and him and this other person should...?_

_No. He had to stop this immediately!_

_Storming forward, he rushed around the corner... and froze when he saw her sitting on the ground, with her back against the stone wall, and stroking over the back of an immense rat in her lap._

_Staring at her, he was completely at loss for words._

_Not that this was an unfamiliar feeling... not at all..._

Actually this event had been the beginning of a strange kind of friendship. Soon he had realized that Robin Amell indeed liked to be alone and was not lonely at all. Still she seemed to like his presence.

Robins eyes widened when she recognized him, but he did not give her the chance to say anything, but dragged her into the side street instead before the templars became fully awake. Hero of Ferelden or not, for sure it wasn't the best idea to fight them here in the streets!

"Let go off me, Cullen!", she hissed, but he ignored her protests and overcame her attempts to free herself easily. The little owl she received as companion during the Blight - and after having left her rat behind and making him SWEAR to take care of it - was nervously moving on her shoulder. She could have used her magic to fend him off, but didn't do so. Instead she said: "They have killed her!"

"And they will kill YOU when you attack them!"

"Pff", was all answer he received. "They weren't even able to fend off my sleeping spell... idiots!"

"True", he heard himself answer and hurried her to go. "But still: They will be very vigilant now... and angry..."

Finally freeing herself from his grip, she stopped and looked him into the eyes. "Why by the Maker are you helping me anyway? Shouldn't you help THEM?"

"I... no." Sighing heavily, he stroked through his hair and added: "I was dismissed from the Order."

"YOU?"

He grimaced. "Yes, me. Does that sound so surprising to you?"

"Well... yes?" Looking over her shoulder to check if the templars followed them, she turned again to him when there was no sight of them. "I mean: You have always been the perfect templar..."

He snorted bitterly and was just about to tell her how wrong she was when the templars started to scream...

* * *

Robins head spun around when she heard the screams, and Cullens sudden reappearance in her life was forgotten. Quickly she followed him back to the street from which he had just pulled her away and wondered what by the Maker had happened to let the men cry in such agony.

Blood splattered the floor before they could pass the corner and one of the templars crushed to the ground, his hands pressed to his carotid which had been ripped open. He gurgled, his eyes wide for shock, and than he lay still.

"Get that bitch off me!" one of his companions cried. "Kill her!"

The sliding of a blade could be heard, followed by a gasp. That was the moment when Cullen and she passed the corner and were able to see what was happening.

The mage girl - the girl who had been clearly DEAD some minutes ago - was just stumbling backwards from one of the templars who had a biting mark on his neck, directly where HIS carotid was located. Her mouth and teeth were smeared with blood.

"Demon!" the unharmed templar cried and rushed forward, pushing his sword to the hilt into her body and stabbing her with it.

She didn't even flinch. Instead, she used the closeness to him, went for his NECK... and ripped his carotid out.

All of this happened within seconds, and neither Robin, nor Cullen were able to react. The third templar told the Makers name and made one, two steps backwards, than spun around and fled like the coward he was, leaving the woman - or whatever she might have become - to roam the streets of Kirkwall and maybe murder next time someone innocent.

"What IS SHE?" Cullen panted next to her, holding his sword and shield in his hands, ready to defend the mage. Irritated Robin realized that he had pushed himself in front of her.

"I have no idea", she answered after a short moment while gliding past him and approaching the woman. She wasn't moving anymore, but instead she stood lost in the middle of the street, covered in blood, and looked down at her hands.

"Don't get to close, Robin!" Cullen warned her.

She ignored him. This whole situation was much to... interesting to back off now. Never had she witnessed anything like that, and she was a woman who was very open when it came to unusual use of magic.

"Have to go", the mage girl murmured in this moment and turned her back to Robin. "Have to go..." And with these repeating words, she simply walked away.

Cullen stepped next to her. "Is she... possessed?"

"I have no idea", she answered, "but I intend to find out." Shooting him a side glance, she added: "I have learned during the last years that it is useful to have a shield and a blade with me. And due to the fact that you haven't anything better to do, you can accompany me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Can I?

Either ignoring or simply not hearing the sarcasm in his voice, she nodded, stroked over Feather's little head and started to walk. "Or did you have other plans?"

With a deep sigh he followed her. Obviously the Maker had still not given up on him. "No way I am going to miss out on this new adventure..."


End file.
